Google might change Android wear to Wear OS

Google might be considering a change in both the logo as well as the name of its smartwatch specific platform. So while it used to be referred to as Android Wear, the same might henceforth be called as simply Wear OS.

For the logo, instead of what earlier used to be outlines of a watch face, it now seems to be a stylized ‘W’ logo that would be doing the job. The logo again comprises of dots and capsular bars done up in the characteristic Google colors of blue, yellow, green and red.

The above however is far from being official as yet. Instead, the same has been spotted by a Reddit user going by the name H3x0n. It also seems to be a chance discovery given that the user noticed getting a pairing notification that included a new name as well as a new logo. The logo again does carry some sort of familiarity with Google Assistant.

Google Play notifies users of the presence of any compatible Android smartwatch in their vicinity. Tapping the notification launches the Android Wear companion app to complete the pairing formalities.

Now with a new name and logo out to represent Google’s efforts with smartwatches, this makes it amply clear of the company’s ambitions on this front as well. Google has already been delinking the smartwatch platform from Android so that the watch operating system no longer is tied to any specific version of its popular mobile OS. Updates to the smartwatch platform too have been independent of Android updates as well for some time now.

Google too has been trying hard to position its smartwatch OS as platform agnostic. What that means is that the smartwatch would be able to pair up with both Android and iOS devices. Under the circumstances, renaming it as Google Wear would make more sense as Android Wear will no doubt make users to believe it is tied to Android.

Google also has other reasons to attempt a wider appeal of its smartwatches as Apple already seems to have an edge here. With deep inroads in the healthcare space, Apple Watch has started to be seen with enormous respect when it comes to relaying vital health parameters accurately. That includes the ability to predict heart attack as well by monitoring irregular heartbeat and such.